Farmers Market opening makes us shout ‘Yay!’

YAY: By the calendar on our wall, we're more than a week into spring. Judging by the weather outside, we're not there yet. Happily, the 2014 opening of the Olympia Farmers Market cleared up our meteorological confusion.

By the calendar on our wall, we’re more than a week into spring. Judging by the weather outside, we’re not there yet. Happily, the 2014 opening of the Olympia Farmers Market cleared up our meteorological confusion.

When the 29-year-old market opened last Thursday, it was actually a continuation of its first full-year season. The market stayed open on Saturdays this winter and will do so again next year. But when the market opens for its weekly four-day run, we know the seasonal rebirth has begun, and there is a promise of solar warmth in the days ahead.

YAY: DRUG-FREE ZONES

We urged the Olympia City Council last week to include parks and trails in its drug-free zones surrounding city-owned civic centers. City Manager Steve Hall reminded us that current law already covers parks, schools and transit centers. Council is moving toward a final vote to include “civic centers” in the law, and we hope they approve it.

YAY: FIGHTING BREAST CANCER

Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill last week approving breast cancer awareness license plates. People can purchase them for $40, and all proceeds go to the state Department of Health to fund screenings for breast, cervical and colon cancers for the disabled, uninsured or under-insured. It’s a small bill that could have a large impact.

YAY: STATE WORKERS

Within days of the Oso mudslide, state workers had collected more than $34,000 to support families, survivors and rescue workers. And the total has steadily grown. State employees are always quick to help others in need through its Combined Fund Drive.

YAY: OPEN GOVERNMENT

State legislators passed a bill this year requiring all elected and public officials subject to state laws governing open meetings and public disclosure to take a minimum amount of training. While signing the bill into law, Gov. Jay Inslee scolded state senators and representatives for not including the Legislature itself in the mandate. We agree, and they should have added the Governor’s Office, too.

YAY: STATING THE OBVIOUS

Senior officers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord went out of their way to say soldiers and airmen must conform to Department of Defense policy and federal laws making possession of cannabis illegal. We thought that was obvious, because stoned people armed with catastrophic weapons or flying multimillion-dollar airplanes makes no sense. Still, we’re glad for the crystal clarity on the matter.

YAY: OLY’S COW TEAM

No, this is not a dairy farm milking competition. It’s Olympia High School’s state champion robotics team, and they’ve qualified for the first-ever Tech Challenge World Championships later this month in St. Louis. These are our future aerospace engineers, rocket scientists and computer science innovators. If you want to support them, visit stempals.org.

YAY: RECYCLING GOODNESS

According to the April edition of The Rotarian magazine, the energy saved by recycling a glass bottle can power a computer for 30 minutes and an aluminum can will run a television for two hours. Think of the energy you could save if you turned off the TV and laptop and went “old school,” actually talking to other people.